Central America is considered to be part of the developing world. In general, people that live in the developing world tend to be poor, have shorter life spans, have higher rates of illiteracy, and lack quality health care.Within the six countries of Central America, there is significant economic diversity. For instance, Nicaragua is considered to be the least developed of the six countries because it has the worst indicators of the Central American countries for infant mortality rate, adult literacy rate, and GDP.
Historically, Central American trade has been very dependent on two products: coffee and bananas. During much of this century, coffee has been the single largest Central American export. Likewise, bananas have been a very important export for Honduras, Panama, and Costa Rica. Due to the importance of bananas and the fact that these countries are republics, these three countries have often been called banana republics.
The Central American Common Market In 1960 Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua created the Central American Common Market in an effort to promote economic development. The CACM, however, has suffered from political disagreements between El Salvador and Honduras. In 1969 political tensions resulted in a war between these two countries, which slowed economic cooperation in all of Central America. In recent years, efforts have been made to increase economic integration among the six countries. One of the obstacles, however, has been wealthy Costa Rica’s reluctance to tie its economy to its poorer neighbors. http://www.cotf.edu/earthinfo/camerica/CAeco.html
Caribbean Economy
The Caribbean area of the world is one of the most beautiful, but it is also a mixed bag when it comes to the economy. The area is made up of many different overseas territories, island nations and independent states which have all diversified greatly since the Caribbean was first "westernised" as far back as the 15th century. Many western countries have battled over various islands and mainland countries in the Caribbean, the victor bringing with them new economic opportunities to out-of-reach settlements. Whilst we will never know whether these Caribbean islands would have been able to thrive without the intervention of western settlers, the Caribbean economy can safely say that it is steadily progressing as a whole and is able in the main to keep itself afloat.
The history of the Caribbean economy shows that the area was once very productive and was a world leader when it came to the production and export of certain resources. Probably the most significant is the production of sugar cane. Although there is a dark side to the sugar cane plantation production, from around the 17th century right through until the 19th century, there is no denying that it firmly placed the Caribbean Sea on the world map. Whilst most of the islands in the Caribbean were involved with sugar cane production there were a few exceptions. The likes of Curacao and Sant Maarten were prominent in the salt mining industry; Haiti was settled by the Spanish who opened gold mines and the Turks & Caicos Islands were inhabited by salt collectors from the Bermuda region.
Intro
Central America is considered to be part of the developing world. In general, people that live in the developing world tend to be poor, have shorter life spans, have higher rates of illiteracy, and lack quality health care.Within the six countries of Central America, there is significant economic diversity. For instance, Nicaragua is considered to be the least developed of the six countries because it has the worst indicators of the Central American countries for infant mortality rate, adult literacy rate, and GDP.http://www.cotf.edu/earthinfo/camerica/CAeco.html
Trade
Historically, Central American trade has been very dependent on two products: coffee and bananas. During much of this century, coffee has been the single largest Central American export. Likewise, bananas have been a very important export for Honduras, Panama, and Costa Rica. Due to the importance of bananas and the fact that these countries are republics, these three countries have often been called banana republics.The Central American Common Market
In 1960 Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua created the Central American Common Market in an effort to promote economic development. The CACM, however, has suffered from political disagreements between El Salvador and Honduras. In 1969 political tensions resulted in a war between these two countries, which slowed economic cooperation in all of Central America. In recent years, efforts have been made to increase economic integration among the six countries. One of the obstacles, however, has been wealthy Costa Rica’s reluctance to tie its economy to its poorer neighbors.
http://www.cotf.edu/earthinfo/camerica/CAeco.html
Caribbean Economy
The Caribbean area of the world is one of the most beautiful, but it is also a mixed bag when it comes to the economy. The area is made up of many different overseas territories, island nations and independent states which have all diversified greatly since the Caribbean was first "westernised" as far back as the 15th century. Many western countries have battled over various islands and mainland countries in the Caribbean, the victor bringing with them new economic opportunities to out-of-reach settlements. Whilst we will never know whether these Caribbean islands would have been able to thrive without the intervention of western settlers, the Caribbean economy can safely say that it is steadily progressing as a whole and is able in the main to keep itself afloat.
http://www.islandflave.com/caribbean-economy
Rise of the Sugar Cane Industry
The history of the Caribbean economy shows that the area was once very productive and was a world leader when it came to the production and export of certain resources. Probably the most significant is the production of sugar cane. Although there is a dark side to the sugar cane plantation production, from around the 17th century right through until the 19th century, there is no denying that it firmly placed the Caribbean Sea on the world map. Whilst most of the islands in the Caribbean were involved with sugar cane production there were a few exceptions. The likes of Curacao and Sant Maarten were prominent in the salt mining industry; Haiti was settled by the Spanish who opened gold mines and the Turks & Caicos Islands were inhabited by salt collectors from the Bermuda region.